Stats behind Brewers' historic season

Most sports are for athletes, but the data-driven nature of Major League Baseball makes it a magnet for math leagues. Yeah, so we had to find a data nerd, and who did we find? Fox 6 investigator Brian Folsom, I know you've been poring over just interesting numbers about this team. Well, you know, when they say we need someone to kind of dig into the numbers, they go, Brian likes data, right? We'll have him check it out. Well, the first thing I'm going to start with, though, I will tell you, I have some fascinating stats to share, but the first thing has nothing at all to do with math. The Milwaukee Brewers are just the second team ever to represent both the American League and National League in a World Series. The Houston Astros is the other team, but we're just the second to do this. Of course, we used to be in the American League. The Brewers are the first team to sweep a playoff opponent who swept them the year before, and not just in baseball. No team in the NBA or NHL has done it either, at least not in a seven-game series. The Brewers' four-run comeback win last night. The largest deficit overcome to clinch a sweep in a seven-game series. And the Brewers are the first team ever to sweep a seven-game playoff series in which the bullpen was credited with all four wins. None of the starters got a win in this series. That is crazy. The 2026 Brewers won a franchise record, as we know, 103 regular season games. They've won 293 games the past three seasons under manager Pat Murphy. That is the most in baseball, even more than the Dodgers, who won the last two World Series. It's the fifth most in any baseball manager's first three seasons since 1969. Now, of course, we talk a lot about 1982 right now. The 82 Brewers remain all-time legends. Names like Yount and Molitor and Cecil Cooper and Gorman Thomas. Harvey's Wallbangers were built for power. They hit 62 more home runs and had 75 more extra base hits than Pat Murphy's 2026 club. But this year's Brewers are built to get on base and run. They drew 184 more walks than the 82 team and stole 78 more bases. They also struck out a lot, nearly twice as much. And they hit the second fewest home runs in the league, but don't think they don't have power. The Brewers now lead all teams in this year's playoffs with 10 postseason home runs. So they can hit for power when they need to. The most statistically valuable Brewer in 1982, according to today's advanced metrics, if you look back, Robin Yount was worth 10 more wins than an average replacement player. In 2026, it's Bryce Turang. He's worth seven more wins than your average replacement player. The Brewers pitching. Got a Cy Young Award winner, I think. Jacob Misiorowski, we haven't heard it officially, but everyone thinks that's where it's going to be. Don't expect him to go nine innings, though. He only did it once this year. He was the only Brewers pitcher to go the distance. The 82 Brewers, 34 complete games. It was a different game then. You don't see pitchers go the full distance anymore. When it comes to fans in the seats, the '82 Brewers averaged about 24,000 fans per game, filling County Stadium to about 45% capacity. It was a bigger stadium in terms of the overall number of seats. This year's team drew an average of 34,000 fans. 82% of the seats at American Family Field were filled on an average day throughout this season. And here's where we wrap it up. The magic of the number 44. This is the first time in 44 years you've heard us say it a bunch. The Brewers are back in the Fall Classic, and someone pointed out to me today it just happens to match the jersey number of one of Milwaukee's all-time great brewers, Hammerin' Hank Aaron, who was part of the city's only World Series win with the Milwaukee Braves. And Ben and Ashley, you know, that happened in 1957. This is now the 57th season that the Brewers have played in Milwaukee. I don't know if you believe in magic. I don't know if you believe that Bob Uecker knocked that ball down from the roof at AmFam against the Padres, but it sure feels like this is a season of destiny. Wow. I'm going to keep all those numbers to impress somebody at some point before the World Series and during. It's crazy. Another crazy stat I saw was if you compare the Dodgers stats when they swept the Brewers, to the Brewers' stats when they swept the Dodgers, there was something like the same exact amount of plate appearances. Like the same number of people got on base. The same batting average and slugging percentage. You know what's different? The payroll. Like more than two to one. I mean, this has been an impressive run for this team. Yeah, we want to see those numbers side by side. Yeah, I mean, it's dwarfed by the Dodgers. I saw someone send me a joke that the Los Angeles Dodgers just announced they bought the Milwaukee Brewers. Not true. So the Brewers are moving on. Another big number is the cost of World Series tickets, which we can all debate if we're going to sell a car or not to get there. So, Brian, thanks for coming in. You want to educate your children or go to a World Series game, right? Get baseball nerdy with us. We should have Brian at, like, a cocktail party ahead of the World Series just to throw out some of these stats. Did you know? Yeah, that was cool. Some very cool numbers in there. I believe in Brewer's magic now after all that. Thanks, Brian. Thanks, Brian.